Nowadays, various portable information terminals such as a tablet terminal (multifunction portable terminal) and a smartphone (highly functional mobile phone) are put on the market. iPad (trademark) is known as a typical example of the tablet terminal (multifunction portable terminal), and iPhone (trademark) is known as a typical example of the smartphone (highly functional mobile phone). Those various portable information terminals are different in length and width sizes and positions of battery-charging slots (battery-charging receptacle connectors) each provided at a lower end thereof
As is well known, a battery charger is provided to each portable information terminal as an auxiliary part. The battery charger comprises a battery-charging plug connector, which is fixed to one end portion of a power supply cable, and an adapter with a plug, which is fixed to the other end portion of the power supply cable. To charge the portable information terminal, the plug of the adapter with a plug is generally inserted into a power outlet socket, and the battery-charging plug connector is inserted into the battery-charging slot (battery-charging receptacle connector) of the portable information terminal Thus, a secondary battery (such as a lithium ion battery) built into the portable information terminal can be charged.
Hitherto, on the other hand, various holding bases (battery-charging bases), which are capable of charging such portable information terminals while holding thereon those portable information terminals, have been proposed.
For example, WO 2009/078062 A (Patent Literature 1) discloses a holding base for holding a mobile phone in a removable manner. The holding base disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a bottom receiving section for supporting a bottom portion of the mobile phone, a back receiving section for supporting a back portion of the mobile phone, and arm sections for sandwiching and supporting both side surface portions of the mobile phone. In the mobile phone, battery-charging electrodes are provided at the bottom portion. The battery-charging electrodes are brought into contact with and electrically connected to power supply terminals of the holding base. A connector (battery-charging receptacle connector) is provided on a wall surface of a back surface portion of a holding base body, and this connector (battery-charging receptacle connector) is connected to the power supply terminals via a switch. When the mobile phone is mounted on the bottom receiving section, the switch is turned ON via a dog piece. When the switch is turned ON, electric power is supplied from the outside to the battery-charging power supply terminals via the connector (battery-charging receptacle connector). When a battery-charging power supply device (adapter) is connected to the connector (battery-charging receptacle connector) through a battery-charging cord (battery-charging plug connector with a power supply cable), electric power is supplied to the mobile phone, thereby being capable of charging the mobile phone.
Further, JP-A-H11-348677 (Patent Literature 2) discloses a mobile phone holder capable of holding mobile phones of various sizes and also connecting each of the mobile phones to a connector at the same time. The mobile phone holder disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes a case, and a holder provided so as to be slidable on the case. A connector device and a case cover are provided on the case. Two sliders capable of sandwiching a phone and a holder cover for covering the sliders are provided on the holder. The case comprises a lower case section and an upper case section. A pair of guide members is provided on the case. A stopper that allows the phone to abut thereagainst and the pair of sliders for holding the phone are provided on the holder. The sliders include cams having inclined surfaces so that the sliders may be brought close to and away from each other by the guide members when the holder is slid. When the phone is mounted on the holder and brought into abutment against the stopper, and when the holder is slid, the sliders are brought close to each other due to actions of the cams and the guide members, thereby being capable of holding the phone and of fitting the connector (battery-charging receptacle connector) of the phone to the connector (battery-charging plug connector) of the connector device provided on the case.
Further, in Patent Literature 2, the connector device comprises a connector housing and a connector main body (battery-charging plug connector). The connector main body (battery-charging plug connector) is movable with respect to the connector housing by predetermined dimensions in an up-and-down direction and a right-and-left direction. The connector device is mounted to connector device support bars of the upper case section, and fixed thereto with screws. The connector device is covered with the case cover.
On the other hand, JP-A-2006-172371 (Patent Literature 3) discloses an electronic device having a removable unit accommodating structure for easily mounting and removing a removable unit, though the device is not a holding base (battery-charging base). In Patent Literature 3, an HDD accommodating section is provided in a main body of a notebook computer (electronic device). An HDD serving as the removable unit is removably accommodated in the HDD accommodating section. A connector section and a connector fixed to the connector section are provided in the HDD accommodating section. Rotation shafts are provided on both side portions of the connector section, and the connector section is rotatable about the rotation shafts between an upright position and an accommodation position. The connector section and the connector are freely rotatable between the upright position and the accommodation position.